The present invention concerns a device and method for managing access rights to a wireless network.
At the present time, communication networks and more particularly the internet are playing a greater and greater part in communication, whether on a personal level or on a business level. Users express the desire to be able to connect to this network in a way that is if possible permanent or tending to become permanent. In this context, one of the favoured access means is the wireless access that can take place from a mobile communication terminal. In particular, access according to the WiFi standard standardised by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) in the 802.11 family of standards is tending to become general. This access takes place by the deployment of WiFi access points connected to the information network and enabling terminals, typically a portable computer, to establish a connection with this access point. Once this connection is established, the data traffic is relayed by the access point between the terminal and the communication network.
Such access points are deployed by many economic players. Public accesses managed by local authorities in public establishments such as libraries can be cited. Accesses made available to travelers in airports, railway stations or hotels can also be cited. Businesses also tend to deploy points of access to their computing network and to the internet, firstly for their employees and secondly for visitors.
The purpose of some of these accesses is to be open in an unlimited or uncontrolled fashion, typically a public access or in certain cases access for employees in the company. On the other hand, the purpose of other accesses is limited or controlled, whether for reasons of security for visitors in a business or because it is wished to charge for access, typically in an hotel. These limits may be geographical, visitor access being for example limited to a meeting room in a company. These limits may be temporal, where a system of connection credits sold in an hotel or railway station for example can be used.
At the present time, these constraints are generally managed by the AAA system (Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting) in the form of user accounts with which the constraints are associated. This system is expensive to manage, any sale of a service requiring an update on the central system and the distribution of associated connection identifiers to the user.